Bexhill College Men’s 1st team, in association with Chelsea Football Club Foundation and in partnership with Eastbourne Borough Football Club, started their season with a resounding 9-0 home victory against Dover FC.
It was a rapid start from the home side, taking the lead after just 25 seconds with a 10-pass goal straight from kickoff, finished off smartly by debutant Sam Sharma. The home side looked to attack further in the early exchanges but despite dominance weren’t able to double their early lead. That was until the 41st minute when Sharma doubled his and his team’s tally for the day with another smart finish beyond the outreached goalkeeper. Dover was hoping for the halftime whistle, but the home side wasn’t done and just two minutes later made it 3. This time Sharma turned provider, opting not to shoot when through on goal but instead square the ball for fellow debutant Mardy Ovenden who tapped home into an empty net. An empathic first half for the home side on the opening day.
The second half started much like the first ended, with the home side on top. It took just 7 second-half minutes for the lead to be extended, this time from the penalty spot. After Sam Sharma was caught late by the Dover keeper, Walsh stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way. That was the start of a crazy 4 minutes for the away side who just a minute later were picking the ball out of the back of the net once again. After a high press forced a loose ball back towards their own goal, Walsh pounced on it and drove down the left side, into the box and smashed home at the near post. Just 2 minutes later, it became six. A corner from the right from Calum Pollitt was headed home by another debutant Jack Freeman. That goal was the cue for the home manager to make wholesale changes with 5 substitutes including another 3 debutants introduced within the space of 5 minutes. That didn’t affect the scoring pattern as on the hour mark Eastbourne made it 7. A free kick from 25 yards out was converted by newly appointed captain Calum Pollitt, going over the wall and into the bottom corner. The pace of the game slowed after that and for the next twenty minutes there wasn’t much to report, that was until the 85th minute. Substitutes Harvey Wheeler and Conor McManus combined well down the left-hand side ending in McManus’ well-placed right-foot effort finding the bottom right corner. As the clock hit 90 there was time for one more chance, created and finished by substitute Tyler Wood. Receiving the ball in space down the left, he drove half the length of the pitch into the box and just like McManus, finished into the bottom right corner. With that, the referee blew for full-time and left Eastbourne jubilant after a rather comprehensive opening day.
Manager, Shane Lovell, shared his thoughts; “There’s a huge amount of pride after today, the boys had just 2 hours before the game to learn a new shape and structure so to end up with a 9-0 win with 6 debutants in the squad is quite an achievement. The boys weren’t happy with some aspects of the performance, which after winning 9-0 some people would think doesn’t matter but that’s the standards they demand of each other. We’ll enjoy this one but after tomorrow the focus and work will turn to our next match. We know each game won’t be like today, but everyone is excited about what we can achieve together this season.”
Eastbourne Borough Squad:
Hobden, Scullion, Marchant, Ketchell, Rivers, Lucin, Freeman, Pollitt ©, Ovenden, Sharma, Walsh. SUBS: Msezane, Tarrant, Wheeler, Wood, McManus.
Man of the match: Sam Sharma – 2 goals and an assist on debut is what will be remembered but his work rate, link-up play and flair throughout proved to be a real thorn in the opposition day.
